Buy a T-Shirt, Send a Kid to School: Ryan Seacrest Is Asking You Nicely!
Ryan Seacrest, The Edge, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Garcelle Beauvais, Shaggy and Sean Paul are among the celebs supporting American Eagle this week in the company’s efforts to raise money for Concern Worldwide’s education program in Haiti.
American Eagle will donate 100 percent of the purchase price from its “Help Haiti Heal” T-shirts, now through Jan. 17, to Concern Worldwide. These adorable shirts were made in Haiti, by Haitians, to mark the first anniversary of the earthquake.
“While Haiti faces many difficult obstacles as it tries to rebuild after the devastating January 12th earthquake, ensuring our children get the education they deserve is a vital part of the rebuilding process,” the singer Shaggy said in a statement.
Proceeds will go towards rebuilding and repairing two schools that were destroyed during the earthquake, training new teachers, installing clean water systems, latrines and sanitation at the two schools and helping to pay teacher salaries.
An unbelievable 85 percent of Haiti’s schools were destroyed or damaged during last year’s earthquake.
To learn more about the T-shirt and support the cause, click here.
Disney’s Club Penguin Raises $1 Million for Charity
The popular online video game Club Penguin held its 4th annual Coins for Change event in December. It allowed players to donate virtual coins they earned playing games online to real world causes that matter to them.
Kids could donate coins to provide medical help, build safe places or protect the earth. At the end of the event, the virtual donations to the three cause categories served as votes to determine how $1 million in cash contributions from Disney Online Studios would be divided among charitable projects aimed at helping children, families and the planet.
Thanks to the 3.4 million players who donated in excess of 12.2 billion virtual coins, Disney Online Studios will donate $290,000 to support medical clinics in Malawi and Lesotho (conducted by Partners in Health); $50,000 to fund operations for sick and disabled children in Cambodia (conducted by Children’s Surgical Centre); $75,000 to provide school programs for kids displaced by war in Sudan (conducted by War Child); $75,000 to protect children from violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (conducted by War Child); $150,000 to fund projects to provide water to communities in India (conducted by Free the Children); $180,000 to teach kids and families to care for watersheds and rain forests (conducted by Rare); and $180,000 to protect endangered animals in Colombia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and the Andes Mountains (conducted by Wildlife Conservation Network).
They may be kids pretending to be penguins online, but they just made a difference in the lives of thousands of kids around the globe. Go Penguins!
Robert Gibbs to Start the First Day of the Rest of His Life
If ever there was a more thankless job than White House Press Secretary we’re not quite sure what it would be. So we’re sure that current press secretary Robert Gibbs is overjoyed to step down and become a special advisor to the White House and work on President Barack Obama’s reelection.
Gibbs will leave after Obama delivers his State of the Union address later this month.
“Stepping back will take some adjusting,” Gibbs told The New York Times. “But at the same time, I have a feeling that I will keep myself quite busy, not just with speaking, but continuing to help the president.”
Congratulations on the new path, Robert! We wonder who the next victim (err, press secretary) will be.
Photo 1 by PR Photos, photo 2 courtesy of Club Penguin, photo 3 via Wikimedia Commons.